Ricky Gervais promised to be ‘nice’ at the beginning of his Golden Globes 2016 monologue, and while the word ‘nice’ is open to interpretation, Gervais was fair – he insulted everyone equally, including Caitlyn Jenner. Face it, we love Ricky Gervais for his ability to be genuinely funny, even if it stings a bit.
Gervais took the podium to thunderous applause, and typically told the audience to ‘shut up’ so he could begin the show. Gervais remarked that he’d been through a lot of changes this year,” but not nearly so many as Bruce Jenner – now Caitlyn Jenner.” Gervais lauded Jenner, saying she had bravely broken down barriers and stereotypes. You see? he was nice as promised.This is where it gets tricky, because I don’t want to be a spoiler, so I’ll dance around what happened next. Gervais continued by by joking that Jenner is now heir to a certain stereotype that is typically pinned on women. This is where people divided into two groups: those who believe it was a funny joke, and those who think Ricky was unpardonably insensitive and should not have ‘gone there.’
I hope you’ll view the short video before considering the following question. Do you think Gervais crossed a line, or are the politically correct squad overreacting by saying he acted in poor taste?
Personally. I don’t think he meant any more harm than when he later called Sean Penn a ‘snitch’ for his interview with El Chappo. By the way, Penn laughed.
To be fair, it should be mentioned that Jenner is still under investigation for a fatal traffic accident in February of last year. She has been blamed by the survivors of the driver of the other car. Until she has her day in court, she will continue to be the butt of jokes similar to the one Gervais told..And possibly beyond, she is a woman now.
In the photo: the animated show ‘South Park’ continues to run a sight joke in nearly every episode. When Caitlyn ties on a scarf, gets behind the wheel of her convertible, and says “Buckle up Buckaroos!” You know things are about to get messy.